Need your advice

Hi, I thought with all tennis experts in here someone can give me a good advice. Iím an 18 years old tennis player soon I will become 19. I have been playing tennis for the past 6 years. Unfortunately even though Iím good but due to my parentís financial situation I havenít been playing a lot of junior tournaments. Most of the girls I have played and won have got their selves into collages on tennis scholarships but since I havenít played a lot of junior tournaments and Iím also a homeschooled student I donít know how to apply for collages. Unfortunately soon when I become 19 I canít play in any junior tournaments any longer. Can someone advice me what to do? My main goal was to get on the tennis tour instead of going to collage but Iím starting to realize itís almost impossible to get on the tour without having a big investor/sponsor. any advice will be appreciated.
Doost

Once you reach 19, you can start playing in the adult tourneys and local team tennis teams. But if you are any good, you can go to many small colleges (private ones) and jucos which give out really good scholarships for the student athlete. They want you to attend their schools and give you a chance to play in a college environment. All you have to do is schedule an appt to meet the coach, hit with him or one of his players, and he/she will let you know!

The information Shuttrbug provided is sound and I'm beginning to see Shuttrbug as an awesome addition to Tennisw. I'd like to add something to think about. I teach Tennis to students currently and have been approached often with similar concerns. College is rapidly becoming out of reach for many in America yet at the same time, they are constantly hearing how important it is to acquire a degree in order to assure success. However if gaining a formal education is so vitally important for one's future and the future of our Global Society, it must become more attainable to more people.

An enormous amount of young Players are looking at this wonderful Sport, for all the benefits associated with being a Tennis Professional. But you must know that of all the incredibly talented Players that attempt a career in Tennis, only a handful actually achieve this goal. This is not to say, you wouldn't be one of the lucky few and I speak for everyone here in saying we would love to see your ongoing success especially if you continued as a Member of the Tennisw Community.

Obtaining a College Degree is always a good foundation regardless of whether you succeed as a Pro or not. Take a look at this Website and see if this is something you'd like to explore. Please let us know what you decided.

RE: Need your advice

Thanks to both of you for your advice. I love this forum and I enjoy reading coachís articles. I salute him for being so active and spending time posting so many good articles.
Do I still qualify for collage scholarships if Iím over 20 years old? I love the sport of tennis and I have been working hard for the past 5 years trying to get on the professional tour. Unfortunately due to my parents financial situation I never got a chance to fulfill that dream and Iím getting worried about my future and I want to focus on the collage path instead of the professional path.
Coach, you are absolutely right, they are a lot of young talented players looking at the wonderful sport of tennis. I was one of them with a big dream and so much love and passion for this sport. The truth is, tennis is the most expensive sport in United States after golf and if your parents are not wealthy to put half a million dollars behind you, you have no chance in this sport regardless of your love, your passion and your hard work. Other countries with their federation have done a much better job in supporting kids who have talent and desire for this sport. Unfortunately United State Tennis Federation is like most other organizations in this country which happens to be an organization for making a lot of money and wasting it down the drain and has no interest in developing top tennis players and the rich kids are the main beneficiary of this corrupted system.

if you are juco transfer yes you can qualify. have you even tried to consider being a teaching pro while in college. as far as i know, the PTR has a program for college students trying to get into the teaching pro ranks. check it out. BTW, the pro tour is not for everyone. especially if you don't have the $$$.

Junbug;
What is Jaco Transfer? I haven’t decided yet if I want to teach if I go to college. Even though it doesn’t sound like a bad idea. My heart has always ached for getting on the Pro tour and giving it a try but unfortunately as you said, it’s almost impossible if you don’t have a lot of $$$$$$ to do that. American kids have less chances and opportunities than others. Well, That’s life

Re: Need Help

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you haven't put yourself in the position of going on tour and playing in USTA Tournys by now, it is unlikely that it will happen for you. Luckily there are many other options in the tennis arena you can jump into and enjoy it.

1. Keep playing. Go out, work on your game and play as much as you can. Join your local USTA league and call your local USTA Director to see where you can volunteer your time for the game.

2. Check out the USPTA. It is your best certification option if you are going to teach outside of the Hilton Head Area (sorry if offfended any PTRers in here). Going to their conventions and seminars will teach you how to become a teacher. Trust me ... it's a great field. I was lucky enough to play division 1 college but my teaching throughout was what paid for the education.

3. Check out Division 3 and NAIA schools. Alot of times they can be "creative" with their scholorship offers and get you into school with decent grades and play to earn the scholorship money.

there is really no difference in which tennis teaching organiztion she joins, mike. even oscar wegner has a tennis teaching certification going on. the important thing is she tries to make her way through college by becoming a certified instructor teaching tennis. you and i can't tell her which one is better. let her decide for herself.